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Christmas vs Holiday
Very Happy that Rohatsu has passed quietly as usual. Now, when the local Fundos start ranting about "Christmas" vs "Holiday" I can wear my best "puzzled look" and sincerely ask
"Why all the ruckus? The Holiday is over."
gassho
-fa dao:cheer:
"Why all the ruckus? The Holiday is over."
gassho
-fa dao:cheer:
0
Comments
Thanks! I do believe I've experienced a momentary enlightenment! :rocker:
Sabine- Vesak is actually in May and celebrates the birth and death of Gotama Buddha. Rohatsu is the Day he became enlightened / awakened.
Kitten- if the Fallwell / O'Reilly orchestrated whining and demanding continues from year to year to year, people are likely over time to abandon the reconition at all as something too unpleasant to consider. If the holiday is not for the nation as a whole, it shouldn't be a national holiday.
It appears that Falwell et al are declaring the "War On Christmas" by demanding that recognition of the common holiday period be phrased in Christian terms only.
Peace On Earth, Goodwill Toward All
-fd-
History seems to suggest that control of the Midwinter/Solstice celebrations is symbolic of the deep nature of the society celebrating and demonstrates who is top of the mythic heap at any given time. In contemporary Market-worship, overconsumption of purchased artefacts is an entirely appropriate sacrifice to the deity. Similarly, when the Church was in charge of society, the Rituale prescribes three, distinct services in church.
What remains constant, throughout all Midwinter celebrations, is the underlying chaos. This is a time of disorder. Whichever deity/philosophy temporarily dominates the festivals, the real driver is the 'jester'.
Just one addition to the topic of Rohatsu Day -- in China it is celebrated according to the LUNAR calendar, not the solar calendar. So the day varies each year.
EM
Palzang
Namo Amitofo
-fd-
The most significant date in the Christian year is, surely, the Paschal festival, whose date is regulated by the Spring New Moon, like Pesach. This demonstrates that it is probably an original dating, although there have been many arguments about the exact date (cf. Synod of Whitby 664 CE). The 'Christmas' festival is an entirely solar-based date, suggesting that it is a Roman invention. This confusion also reminds us of the long-forgotten debate as to whether the Incarnation or the Resurrection is the more important aspect of the Jesus Reconciliation.
This way an employee didn't have to guess at what holiday, being it Kwanza, Hanukkah, Christmas or even the Winter Soltice, that a person celebrated. And run the risk of getting totally chewed out by getting the wrong Holiday.
I myself along with my family, celebrate this time, just as we celebrate every other season, as a time of joy and wonder in life.:o
I'll second that.
-bf
little...... what?" Not to mention Bing Crosby and "I'm dreaming of a White....." er?
Ah. I guess you won't be mentioning that!
(* My Friends Across The Pond)
And "So-an" on Korean.
...
Chestnuts!?!?!?!?!
It makes so much more sense now!
I was wondering why Chet would be roasting his over an open fire.
Never made sense until today.
And now I don't have this image of Chet screaming in agony when I hear people sing this song.
-bf
How about "I'm dreaming of a White Rohatsu" ?
Or maybe "Have yourself a happy little Hanukkah"?
Or even, at a push "Walking in a Winter Solstice Wonderland" ?!
'Merry chris - ma - haus, to you!!' Maybe 'Chris-ma-haus' is an obscure Peruvian festival..... or perhaps we're all invited round to his pad.... (ma house....??)
Frizzer, Vic Reeves is doin' my head in....!
Mahatma Gandhi, as you may know, walked barefoot most of the time. This produced an impressive set of calluses on his feet. Towards the later years of his life, he ate very little which made him rather frail. Plus, with his odd diet, he suffered from bad breath. That is why, in India, he is referred to as "a super calloused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis".
-bf
Ha ha ! Genius !!
And just for you Fede, I've swapped Vic for another great character!! :ukflag:
I must admit, Vic's trouser rubbing antics are a bit off putting for an avatar !
http://www.yogajournal.com/wisdom/514_1.cfm?ctsrc=nlv182
Thought you might all like to read it!
Enjoy!
Kim
Then I worte "Rudolf the Red Haired Drag Queen" (had a very shiny nose).
My favorite was written during the Kosovo Conflict (sung to the tme of "Winter Wonderland"
In the meadow we can build a snowman
and pretend that he is Slobodan.
He'll say "are ya wounded"
we'll say "no man,
but you can do the the job when you're in town"
Later on we'll conspire
as we sit by the fire.
Grandma and Gramps
are off to the camps....
fleeing with Kosovan refugees.
My son and I are presently working on the screenplay for our soon-to-be Christmas/Horror/Satire cult classic movie "Night of the Living Christmas Tree".....
gassho
-fd-
LOL!!!!!!!
There is something intriguing about the concept of these American Fundamentalists Mullahs pewling that they are a persecuted majority.
Here's some info that always sets the hawks au droit to screaming. The motto on the Great Seal of the United States is (and has always been)
Annuit Coeptis
(Under the eye of Providence -- not "god" which would "Annuit Deus")
Novus Ordum Seclorum
(A new world / worldly / secular order).
Mike
Well, I do - because I'm a celibrate monk!
Palzang
If I am initiating the greeting usually I say "Happy Holidays" if I don't know the person, or whatever is appropriate to them, not myself. So with my family it's "Merry Christmas", but it's different for my Jewish friends, or my Hindu friends, or my Wiccan friends.
My feelings on it are that it is meant for them, not myself. When you greet someone you are wanting to express that you wish them to be happy and to have a good time this time of year.
That reminds me of a joke I heard somewhere, which I've just found on a quick google search, from some church website
Where the edges have become blurred, is through the elimination of clear and distinct confines of borders.... So many cultures and societies have overlapped and integrated, that the edges are now indiscernible... it is said that frontiers are invisible from space, but when a society becomes multi-cultural, there is the danger that whichever culture or populace becomes the minority, their values, traditions and habits will also not only come unders crutiny, but may well be inadvertently replaced or relegated in the interests of cultural 'equality'. And actually, the indigenous population doesn't have to be the minority. But we so want to bend over backwards in an effort to keep everyone happy, that nobody ends up being happy!
The same can therefore be said of Religion.
Surely, as a member of Western society, a person has a right to express themselves and do what they feel makes them happy - providing of course it respects the overal Human Dignity of others? Political Correctness is all very well, but boy, does it ever need re-defining! My take on it would be, "When in Rome....."!
(Lights blue touchpaper and stands well back.......
That, I have to say is ridiculous. What else are you going to call it? A yule log with branches? The multi-cultural holiday pine?
Even if it doesn't really have to do with the original intent of the holiday itself... it's called a Christmas Tree, changing the name is not something I can agree with. I can't even understand who it is exactly that they are trying to appease with this. It just makes no sense to me at all.
Interesting point, have you noticed it's only the Atheists who have a problem with things like this. I've never seen anything in the news about a Buddhist or Pagan organization suing over such matters.
I don't know for sure that no Buddhists or Pagans have sued over these sort of things, but I do know for sure that plenty of them have problems with the special privileges given the Christanity in the U.S. - I know because I am married to a Pagan and have many Pagan friends. And in addition to being an atheist, I am also a Buddhist, and yes I have problems with things like this. A lot of Buddhists, Pagans, and atheists probably don't sue since they fear reprisal from both their family and the public. Personally, I have great respect for those who have stood up to the Christian majority in order to ensure equality for the minority.
"I am a monk, my friend."
"Which kind of monk?"
"A son-of-the-Sakyan contemplative."
"I would like to ask you about a certain point, if you would give me leave to pose a question."
"Go ahead and ask. Having heard [your question], I'll inform you."
"How is it, my friend: 'The cosmos is eternal. Only this is true; anything otherwise is worthless.' Is this the sort of view you have?"
"No, my friend, I don't have that sort of view."
"Very well, then: 'The cosmos is not eternal. Only this is true; anything otherwise is worthless.' Is this the sort of view you have?"
"No, my friend, I don't have that sort of view."
"Very well, then: 'The cosmos is finite... The cosmos is infinite... The soul & the body are the same... The soul is one thing and the body another... After death a Tathagata exists... After death a Tathagata does not exist... After death a Tathagata both does & does not exist... After death a Tathagata neither does nor does not exist. Only this is true; anything otherwise is worthless.' Is this the sort of view you have?"
"No, my friend, I don't have that sort of view."
"Then in that case, do you not know or see?"
"No, my friend. It's not the case that I don't know, I don't see. I do know. I do see."
"But on being asked, 'How is it, my friend: "The cosmos is eternal. Only this is true; anything otherwise is worthless." Is this the sort of view you have?' you inform me, 'No, my friend, I don't have that sort of view.' On being asked, 'Very well then: "The cosmos is not eternal... The cosmos is finite... The cosmos is infinite... The soul & the body are the same... The soul is one thing and the body another... After death a Tathagata exists... After death a Tathagata does not exist... After death a Tathagata both does & does not exist... After death a Tathagata neither does nor does not exist. Only this is true; anything otherwise is worthless." Is this the sort of view you have?' you inform me, 'No, my friend, I don't have that sort of view.' But on being asked, 'Then in that case, do you not know, I don't see?' you inform me, 'No, my friend. It's not the case that I don't know or see. I do know. I do see.' Now, how is the meaning of this statement to be understood?"
"'The cosmos is eternal. Only this is true; anything otherwise is worthless,' is a viewpoint. 'The cosmos is not eternal... The cosmos is finite... The cosmos is infinite... The soul & the body are the same... The soul is one thing and the body another... After death a Tathagata exists... After death a Tathagata does not exist... After death a Tathagata both does & does not exist... After death a Tathagata neither does nor does not exist. Only this is true; anything otherwise is worthless,' is a viewpoint. The extent to which there are viewpoints, view-stances, the taking up of views, obsessions of views, the cause of views, & the uprooting of views: that's what I know. That's what I see. Knowing that, I say 'I know.' Seeing that, I say 'I see.' Why should I say 'I don't know, I don't see'? I do know. I do see."
"What is your name, my friend? What do your fellows in the chaste life call you?"
"My name is Ananda, my friend, and that's what my fellows in the chaste life call me."
"What? Have I been talking with the great teacher without realizing that it was Ven. Ananda? Had I recognized that it was Ven. Ananda, I would not have cross-examined him so much. May Ven. Ananda please forgive me."
- Kokanuda Sutta: AN X.96
Of course they're not called Christmas trees - they're called Buddha-bushes!!!!
Palzang
HO HO HO
HRI HRI HRI
At my school, we have two little shrubs with lights wrapped around them in front of the office. We call them the "non-denominational light-bearing hedges."
"If a tree falls in the forest, and there is no one around to hear it, does it make a sound? Who cares